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What is spousal maintenance?

Spousal maintenance is a payment made by one spouse to the other following a divorce. It is in addition to child maintenance.

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There is no automatic right to spousal maintenance. The amount of maintenance is decided based on the couple’s financial needs and income.

Spousal maintenance (interim) can start during the divorce proceedings. Once a financial settlement is agreed, longer-term spousal maintenance will begin.

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Key Child Maintenance Information

What is child maintenance?​

Child maintenance is a regular payment made from the financially stronger parent to the other parent after divorce or separation to the co-parent to support with living costs. Child maintenance payments are calculated by the Child Maintenance Service (CMS). This is a separate body to the family courts. The amount of maintenance will depend on how many children you share, the income of the paying parent, and the time spent with each parent.

How can child maintenance solicitors help?

Child maintenance solicitors at Stowe are on hand to make your agreements with your ex-partner legal. The Child Maintenance Service can calculate the amount of maitenance that should be being paid, but this is not legally binding. If you want to ensure the legal standing of your agreement, one of our expert solicitors can draft this into a child arrangements order to be made legally binding by the court.

Will I have to go to court?

If parents cannot agree to and subsequently manage child maintenance privately, the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) can determine the amount of maintenance and that it is paid. However, there is the option to go to court if one person refuses to pay maintenance or if a court order is already in place but not being paid then you can apply to the court to enforce it. You can also apply to the court when the paying parent is very wealthy for extra child maintenance.

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Who decides how much spousal maintenance I will pay/receive?

 

Your divorce lawyer will advise you of how much spousal maintenance a judge is likely to award you, and this will inform any negotiations you have.

If you are unable to agree on an amount and your case goes to court, the judge will decide how much you should receive.

Ideally, you will be able to reach an agreement without a judge having to decide the outcome.

You can consider mediation, arbitration or a Private FDR to help you reach a settlement.

 

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Meet our spousal maintenance team
Julian
Hawkhead
Senior Partner
Jemma
Slavin
Regional Director, London & South East
Louise
Chipchase
Regional Director, South West & Wales
Rachel
Roberts
Regional Director, Midlands and North
Beth
Sheridan
Managing Partner, East Midlands
Christopher
Birch
Managing Partner, Yorkshire and North East
Emma
Newman
Managing Partner, Surrey, Sussex & Kent
Helen
Miller
Managing Partner, North West
Liza
Gatrell
Managing Partner, Hampshire, Oxfordshire & Dorset
Marjha
Golding-Evans
Managing Partner, South West & Wales
Nastassia
Burton
Managing Partner, Leeds & Manchester
Phoebe
Turner
Managing Partner, London
Rachel
Watson
Managing Partner, Beds, Bucks and Herts.
Rebecca
Calden-Storr
Managing Partner, Birmingham and West Midlands
Samantha
Armour
Managing Partner, North Hampshire and Berkshire
Sebastian
Burrows
Managing Partner, Essex
Amy
Langford
Team Leader Partner, South West & Wales
Angela
Traynier
Team Leader Partner, Manchester and Liverpool
Annabel
Hayward
Team Leader Partner, Milton Keynes
Claire
Cleary
Team Leader Partner, Birmingham and West Midlands
Elaine
Morrison
Team Leader Partner, London
Emma
McMorrow
Team Leader Partner, London
Filomena
Sterkaj
Team Leader Partner, Chelmsford, Bishop's Stortford & Colchester
Florence
Ashcroft-Lane
Team Leader Partner, East Midlands
Gemma
Davison
Team Leader Partner, Head of Oxford and Banbury
Gemma
Thew
Team Leader Partner, Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire & Dorset
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Imms
Team Leader Partner, Kingston
Katie
Kilburn
Team Leader Partner, Leeds
Kate
McCarthy
Team Leader Partner, Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire & Dorset
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Roche
Team Leader Partner, South West & Wales
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Coster
Team Leader Partner, Sheffield
Matthew
Taylor
Team Leader Partner, North West
Maya
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Team Leader Partner, Essex & Kent
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Quinn
Team Leader Partner, St Albans
Niamh
McCarthy
Team Leader Partner, Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire & Dorset
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Hunter
Team Leader Partner, Newcastle, North Shields & Middlesbrough
Rachel
Fisher
Team Leader Partner, South West & Wales
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Hounslow
Team Leader Partner, London
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Team Leader Partner, Birmingham and West Midlands
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Hanson
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Partner, Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire & Dorset
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Alice
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Senior Associate, Birmingham
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Bitis
Senior Associate, Southampton
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Senior Associate, London, Bromley & Richmond
David
Allen
Senior Associate, Newcastle, North Shields & Middlesbrough
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Hamit
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Beven
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Artus
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May
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Goucher
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Bray
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Hargreaves
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Brock
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Francis-Owusuasefa
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Ewa Cyran
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Burrows
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Ahad
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Kaur
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Gauld
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Durkin
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Greenwood
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Beattie
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Nhu
Vo
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Dann
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Solicitor, South West & Wales
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Tomley
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Sutton
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Parkin
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Ravendradas
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Loveridge
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Baig
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Trow
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Taiwo
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Cross
Solicitor, Leeds
Alexzandra
Hughes
Family Lawyer, Liverpool, Manchester, Chester & Wigan
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Family Lawyer, East Midlands
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Lewis
Family Lawyer, Stony Stratford
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Family Lawyer, Sheffield
Caitlin
Hall
Legal Assistant, Liverpool
Ashleigh
Balodis
Trainee Solicitor, Stony Stratford
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Bulbuc
Legal Assistant
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Trainee Solicitor, Bristol
Emily
Harrison-Croft
Client Services Team Lawyer
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Christie
Client Services Team Lawyer
Angela
Sandhu
Paralegal, London & St Albans
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Jones
Paralegal, Stony Stratford
Nayab
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Paralegal, North West
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Kaur
Paralegal, Stony Stratford
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Langford
Legal Assistant, East Midlands
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Grant
Forensic Accountant
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Watch out for pensions! Many people fail to include these or will trade off pension claims to receive more capital from the family home, but this can lead to unfair outcomes so expert legal advice, often including an actuary’s report, is vital.

Matthew Taylor, Team Leader Partner

Why choose Stowe Family Law?

  • As the only national law firm fully dedicated to family matters, our expert team offers professional advice so you can make a fully informed decision about your divorce.

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Let's ask Legal 500

Jemma Slavin is an all-round brilliant lawyer – she is excellent with clients and well-liked by local solicitors as an opponent, not because she is an easy opponent but because she always takes a proportionate and cost-effective approach to cases. Rachel Fisher is a friendly but formidable lawyer who is extremely good for her years of PQE. Joanna… Read more Newton is a brilliant addition to the firm – a truly high-class act.‘

Let's ask Mrs G

I have been working with Mira for around 2 years to finalise my divorce financial settlement. It has been a very difficult time for me personally so it proved reassuring to know Stowe and Mira were handling it on my behalf. They have been both professional and prompt in our correspondence and meetings. I would recommend them to friends which I be… Read morelieve is the true measure of a company.

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Emma Newman received special mentions: ‘Emma Newman is terrific. Very experienced, organised and realistic, you can just tell how much her clients love her.’ Emma ‘has deep expertise in complex financial disputes’.

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Helen Miller is great to work with in order to achieve a fair resolution on financial matters. She is approachable, takes a sensible and pragmatic approach, but is certainly no pushover. She represents her clients well.

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They have a singular reputation in high net worth and complex financial remedy cases. Clare Cleary is in her element dealing with complex and high net worth family finance cases. She always strives for the best for her clients whilst giving realistic advice, managing client expectations’.

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Claire Cleary provides specialist advice in complex and high net worth cases. Calm, focused and unflappable.

Let's ask Mrs H

I approached Louise to help me with my, divorce, finances and safeguarding issues around my children . Louise was extremely professional, friendly and knowledgeable. She offered me so much support and guidance and was with me every step of the way. It never felt like anything was too much trouble and I always felt reassured. I would highly recomme… Read morend Louise at Stowe family law, if you are looking for a highly professional and superb service then I suggest you instruct Stowe family law to act on your behalf as I am so grateful that I did.

Let's ask Legal 500

Having trained as a barrister, Sebastian Burrows is able to conduct his own advocacy and does so very successfully and persuasively. Seb has built up a strong reputation in matrimonial finance matters, particularly when it comes to dividing pensions, litigating city bonuses and achieving top-class results in dividing property portfolios. His case a… Read morenalysis is clear and his instructions succinct and to the point. His natural affable charm is the icing on the cake of his considerable legal and practical knowledge. He is very able – a gifted litigator and strategist.
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Matthew is Team Leader Partner and was noted in the Legal 500 for being ‘excellent’ and thinking ‘through cases very carefully to make very sound tactical decisions.’ His specialism is resolving financial issues following a divorce or separation and he frequently advises clients on cohabitation issues. He is based at our Liverpool office.

Date last reviewed: 23/04/2025

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